New store sells yogurt and cupcakes with family touch

April 16, 2009|MICHAEL SCHMIEMAN mschmieman@tribune.com

Key lime pie, red velvet, vegan carrot cake and Caribbean Coconut with rum. Those are just a few of the flavors of cupcakes offered at a new shop that opened last week in The Promenade at Coconut Creek.

Allegria is the brainchild of Simon Bai, a mechanical engineer with a degree from Penn State University. Bai left a well-paying job to pursue his dream of turning a small frozen yogurt shop into a worldwide phenomenon.

"He is a very unique guy. He is only 28 years old and speaks four languages," said Bai's sister, Kate Eun-Hee Bai.

Kate is taking some time off from her job at the United Nations in New York City to manage the store while Simon is at his home in Surinam, South America, working out some details to obtain his green card.

"We try to add the personal touch that customers like. We bake our cupcakes twice a day, and mix all the ingredients in our frozen yogurt to make sure we get just the right taste," she said.

Meanwhile, overseeing the operation is the siblings' mother, Sonia Bai.

"We bake everything with a lot of hope. We have a big dream, but always with the family touch," Sonia said in her native Korean, with Kate translating.

One of the first things the family did prior to opening their store was to hire Jennifer Cappola, a pastry chef with a degree from the Florida Culinary Institute.

"We have really high standards. I try to bake things that taste good but are healthy and don't contain excessive amounts of sugar," Cappola said.

Cappola's favorite cupcake is the Caribbean Coconut.

"The rum flavor gives it a very distinctive taste. It is quite good," she said.

The owners are looking forward to their new shop's grand opening.

"We don't know exactly when it will be, probably at the end of April or sometime in May," Kate said.

Meanwhile, despite the chaos, noise and dust of nearby construction of a new section of the LEED-certified shopping center, business has been brisk, with a growing number of customers stopping by on their way to work.

"We officially open at 10 a.m., but customers frequently show up earlier. Jennifer usually starts baking at 7, so one of us is always here. In fact, between 9 and 10 o'clock has turned out to be one of our busiest hours. We formally close at 9 p.m., but one of us is usually here until 10:30 or so. We are always the last business in the center to close," Kate said.

Business has been so good that the family has plans to hire two more pastry chefs.

Allegria is located in The Promenade at 4431 Lyons Road, Suite C1-106 in Coconut Creek. Call 954-977-8077 or visit www.allegriafroyo.com